15 results for: idea

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Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This
i·de·a    Audio Help   [ahy-dee-uh, ahy-deeuh] Pronunciation Key
–noun
1.any conception existing in the mind as a result of mental understanding, awareness, or activity.
2.a thought, conception, or notion: That is an excellent idea.
3.an impression: He gave me a general idea of how he plans to run the department.
4.an opinion, view, or belief: His ideas on raising children are certainly strange.
5.a plan of action; an intention: the idea of becoming an engineer.
6.a groundless supposition; fantasy.
7.Philosophy.
a.a concept developed by the mind.
b.a conception of what is desirable or ought to be; ideal.
c.(initial capital letter) Platonism. Also called form. an archetype or pattern of which the individual objects in any natural class are imperfect copies and from which they derive their being.
d.Kantianism. idea of pure reason.
8.Music. a theme, phrase, or figure.
9.Obsolete.
a.a likeness.
b.a mental image.

[Origin: 1400–50; < LL < Gk idéā form, pattern, equiv. to ide- (s. of ideǐn to see) + fem. n. ending; r. late ME idee < MF < LL, as above; akin to wit1]

i·de·a·less, adjective

1, 2. Idea, thought, conception, notion refer to a product of mental activity. Idea, although it may refer to thoughts of any degree of seriousness or triviality, is commonly used for mental concepts considered more important or elaborate: We pondered the idea of the fourth dimension. The idea of his arrival frightened me. Thought, which reflects its primary emphasis on the mental process, may denote any concept except the more weighty and elaborate ones: I welcomed his thoughts on the subject. A thought came to him. Conception suggests a thought that seems complete, individual, recent, or somewhat intricate: The architect's conception delighted them. Notion suggests a fleeting, vague, or imperfect thought: a bare notion of how to proceed. 4. sentiment, judgment.
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
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Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
idea

To learn more about idea visit Britannica.com

© 2008 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
i·de·a    Audio Help   (ī-dē'ə)  Pronunciation Key 
n.  
  1. Something, such as a thought or conception, that potentially or actually exists in the mind as a product of mental activity.
  2. An opinion, conviction, or principle: has some strange political ideas.
  3. A plan, scheme, or method.
  4. The gist of a specific situation; significance: The idea is to finish the project under budget.
  5. A notion; a fancy.
  6. Music A theme or motif.
  7. Philosophy
    1. In the philosophy of Plato, an archetype of which a corresponding being in phenomenal reality is an imperfect replica.
    2. In the philosophy of Kant, a concept of reason that is transcendent but nonempirical.
    3. In the philosophy of Hegel, absolute truth; the complete and ultimate product of reason.
  8. Obsolete A mental image of something remembered.


[Middle English, from Latin, from Greek; see weid- in Indo-European roots.]

i·de'a·less adj.
Synonyms: These nouns refer to what is formed or represented in the mind as the product of mental activity. Idea has the widest range: "Human history is in essence a history of ideas" (H.G. Wells).
Thought is distinctively intellectual and stresses contemplation and reasoning: "Language is the dress of thought" (Samuel Johnson).
Notion often refers to a vague, general, or even fanciful idea: "She certainly has some notion of drawing" (Rudyard Kipling).
Concept and conception are applied to mental formulations on a broad scale: You seem to have absolutely no concept of time. "Every succeeding scientific discovery makes greater nonsense of old-time conceptions of sovereignty" (Anthony Eden).

(Download Now or Buy the Book)
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
idea 
1430, "figure, image, symbol," from L. idea "idea," and in Platonic philosophy "archetype," from Gk. idea "ideal prototype," lit. "look, form," from idein "to see," from PIE *wid-es-ya-, suffixed form of base *weid- "to see" (see vision). Sense of "result of thinking" first recorded 1645.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This
idea

noun
1. the content of cognition; the main thing you are thinking about; "it was not a good idea"; "the thought never entered my mind" 
2. your intention; what you intend to do; "he had in mind to see his old teacher"; "the idea of the game is to capture all the pieces" [syn: mind
3. a personal view; "he has an idea that we don't like him" 
4. an approximate calculation of quantity or degree or worth; "an estimate of what it would cost"; "a rough idea how long it would take" [syn: estimate
5. (music) melodic subject of a musical composition; "the theme is announced in the first measures"; "the accompanist picked up the idea and elaborated it" [syn: theme

WordNet® 3.0, © 2006 by Princeton University.
American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms - Cite This Source - Share This

idea

see bright idea; put ideas in someone's head; what's the idea.


The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
idea1 [aiˈdiə] noun
opinion; belief
Example: I have an idea that it won't work.
Arabic: فِكْرَه
Chinese (Simplified): 意见
Chinese (Traditional): 意見
Czech: nápad
Danish: idé
Dutch: idee
Estonian: arvamus
Finnish: käsitys
French: idée
German: die Meinung
Greek: γνώμη
Hungarian: elképzelés
Icelandic: hugmynd
Indonesian: gagasan
Italian: idea
Japanese: 考え
Korean: 의견
Latvian: ideja; doma
Lithuanian: nuomonė
Norwegian: idé, tanke, forestilling
Polish: przeświadczenie
Portuguese (Brazil): crença, impressão
Portuguese (Portugal): ideia
Romanian: idee
Russian: мнение
Slovak: predstava, tušenie
Slovenian: mnenje
Spanish: creencia, impresión
Swedish: uppfattning, åsikt
Turkish: fikir, düşünce, görüş
idea2 [aiˈdiə] noun
a plan
Example: I've an idea for solving this problem.
Arabic: خِطَّه
Chinese (Simplified): 计划
Chinese (Traditional): 計劃
Czech: plán
Danish: idé; plan
Dutch: idee
Estonian: mõte
Finnish: idea
French: idée
German: die Idee
Greek: ιδέα
Hungarian: terv
Icelandic: hugmynd, áætlun
Indonesian: rencana
Italian: idea
Japanese: 着想
Korean: 계획
Latvian: nodoms; plāns
Lithuanian: mintis, idėja
Norwegian: idé, plan, påfunn
Polish: pomysł
Portuguese (Brazil): idéia
Portuguese (Portugal): ideia
Romanian: idee
Russian: идея
Slovak: plán, nápad
Slovenian: ideja, načrt
Spanish: idea
Swedish: idé
Turkish: düşünce, fikir, öneri
idea3 [aiˈdiə] noun
mental picture
Example: This will give you an idea of what I mean.
Arabic: صورَه
Chinese (Simplified): 概念
Chinese (Traditional): 概念
Czech: představa
Danish: idé
Dutch: idee
Estonian: ettekujutus
Finnish: käsitys
French: idée
German: die Vorstellung
Greek: ιδέα, αντίληψη
Hungarian: fogalom
Icelandic: hugmynd
Indonesian: gambaran
Italian: idea
Japanese: 概念
Korean: 상상, 직관
Latvian: priekšstats
Lithuanian: supratimas
Norwegian: idé, forestilling, anelse
Polish: pojęcie
Portuguese (Brazil): idéia
Portuguese (Portugal): ideia
Romanian: idee
Russian: представление
Slovak: predstava
Slovenian: predstava
Spanish: idea
Swedish: begrepp, föreställning
Turkish: fikir, düşünce
Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary, © 2000-2006 K Dictionaries Ltd.
American Heritage Stedman's Medical Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

i·de·a (-d)
n.

Something, such as a thought or conception, that potentially or actually exists in the mind as a product of mental activity.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Main Entry: idea
Pronunciation: I-'dE-&, 'Id-(")E-&
Function: noun
1 : an entity (as a thought, concept, sensation, or image) actually or potentially present to consciousness
2 : a formulated thought or opinion

Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
Free On-line Dictionary of Computing - Cite This Source - Share This

IDEA
1. Interactive Data Entry/Access.
2. International Data Encryption Algorithm.
(1996-02-16)

The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing, © 1993-2007 Denis Howe
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Idea

I*de"a\, n.; pl. Ideas. [L. idea, Gr. ?, fr. ? to see; akin to E. wit: cf. F. id['e]e. See Wit.]

1. The transcript, image, or picture of a visible object, that is formed by the mind; also, a similar image of any object whatever, whether sensible or spiritual.

Her sweet idea wandered through his thoughts. --Fairfax.

Being the right idea of your father Both in your form and nobleness of mind. --Shak.

This representation or likeness of the object being transmitted from thence [the senses] to the imagination, and lodged there for the view and observation of the pure intellect, is aptly and properly called its idea. --P. Browne.

2. A general notion, or a conception formed by generalization.

Alice had not the slightest idea what latitude was. --L. Caroll.

3. Hence: Any object apprehended, conceived, or thought of, by the mind; a notion, conception, or thought; the real object that is conceived or thought of.

Whatsoever the mind perceives in itself, or as the immediate object of perception, thought, or undersanding, that I call idea. --Locke.

4. A belief, option, or doctrine; a characteristic or controlling principle; as, an essential idea; the idea of development.

That fellow seems to me to possess but one idea, and that is a wrong one. --Johnson.

What is now "idea" for us? How infinite the fall of this word, since the time where Milton sang of the Creator contemplating his newly-created world, - "how it showed . . . Answering his great idea," - to its present use, when this person "has an idea that the train has started," and the other "had no idea that the dinner would be so bad!" --Trench.

5. A plan or purpose of action; intention; design.

I shortly afterwards set off for that capital, with an idea of undertaking while there the translation of the work. --W. Irving.

6. A rational conception; the complete conception of an object when thought of in all its essential elements or constituents; the necessary metaphysical or constituent attributes and relations, when conceived in the abstract.

7. A fiction object or picture created by the imagination; the same when proposed as a pattern to be copied, or a standard to be reached; one of the archetypes or patterns of created things, conceived by the Platonists to have excited objectively from eternity in the mind of the Deity.

Thence to behold this new-created world, The addition of his empire, how it showed In prospect from his throne, how good, how fair, Answering his great idea. --Milton.

Note: "In England, Locke may be said to have been the first who naturalized the term in its Cartesian universality. When, in common language, employed by Milton and Dryden, after Descartes, as before him by Sidney, Spenser, Shakespeare, Hooker, etc., the meaning is Platonic." --Sir W. Hamilton.

Abstract idea, Association of ideas, etc. See under Abstract, Association, etc.

Syn: Notion; conception; thought; sentiment; fancy; image; perception; impression; opinion; belief; observation; judgment; consideration; view; design; intention; purpose; plan; model; pattern. There is scarcely any other word which is subjected to such abusive treatment as is the word idea, in the very general and indiscriminative way in which it is employed, as it is used variously to signify almost any act, state, or content of thought.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
American Heritage Abbreviations Dictionary 3rd Edition - Cite This Source - Share This
IDEA
  1. Individuals with Disabilities Education Act
  2. International Data Encryption Algorithm

The American Heritage® Abbreviations Dictionary, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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